Previous studies have suggested a link between vascular disease risk factors during midlife and increased risk of later-life dementia - particularly Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia.

However, Dr. Rebecca F. Gottesman - of the Department of Neurology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD - and colleagues note that it has been unclear as to whether these risk factors are directly associated with the buildup of beta-amyloid in the brain.

Beta-amyloid is a protein associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease. The protein can accumulate in the brain, forming "plaques" that disrupt communication between nerve cells.

With the help of positron emission tomography (PET) brain imaging, Dr. Gottesman and team sought to gain a better understanding of how risk factors for vascular disease might affect beta-amyloid accumulation in the brain.

Vascular disease risk factors linked to higher beta-amyloid levels

The researchers analyzed the data of 346 dementia-free adults who had participated in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC)-PET Amyloid Imaging Study for almost 25 years.

Participants were a mean age of 52 years at the point of study enrollment between 1987 and 1989. At that time, subjects were assessed for the presence of vascular disease risk factors, including high cholesterol, smoking, high body mass index (BMI), high blood pressure, and diabetes.

Between 2011 and 2013 - at a mean age of 76 years - participants underwent PET imaging, which revealed the levels of beta-amyloid in their brains.

"The availability of imaging biomarkers for brain amyloid allows the study of individuals before the development of dementia and thereby allows consideration of the relative contributions of vascular disease and amyloid to cognition, as well as the contribution of vascular disease to amyloid deposition," note the researchers.

Compared with participants who had no risk factors for vascular disease at study baseline, those who had two or more risk factors were found to have significantly higher levels of beta-amyloid in their brains. The more vascular risk factors participants had, the higher were their levels of beta-amyloid.

Contrary to previous studies suggesting that the link between vascular disease risk factors and beta-amyloid levels varies by race, the researchers found that race did not influence their findings.

Furthermore, the study results did not differ between people with and without the APOE e4 allele, which is a form of the APOE gene associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Commenting on their findings, the researchers say:

"These data support the concept that midlife, but not late-life, exposure to these vascular risk factors is important for amyloid deposition. [...] These findings are consistent with a role of vascular disease in the development of AD [Alzheimer's disease]."

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Comments(1)

Drs Bale and Doneen British Medical Journal 11/16 "high-risk periodontal pathogens cause atherosclerosis". The DNA of P gingivalis and A actinomycetemcomitans are found in every heart attack and stroke clot. Their research shows a 50% causal factor. Miklossy's research " oral spirochetes are causal for Alzheimer's " showed 93.7% of Alzheimer's patients had one of 5 oral spirochetes in their brains. Tp causes Syphilis and Borrelia burgdorferi causes Lyme disease. On death all have similar brain structure. Periodontal pathogens contribute to CVD and Alzheimer's so if you could kill these pathogens you could control 50% of CVD and prevent Alzheimer's. I have been using an antibiotic rinse for 8 years to do this using a technique that had a P factor of. 0001 in a study of 649 patients. Shouldn't you consider this possibility and use of this therapy?

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